“Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” John 11.1-3
Although we are only examining three verses today, it is at the beginning of an incredible story about Jesus and according to Mary and Mary — the one he loves.
Jesus was coming off a stay in Jerusalem and was near Bethany just over the hill from the holy city. It was not but a few miles away. He left the city then went to “reconnect” in the country just pass the Jordan River and now received a message from Mary and Martha that their brother Lazarus was sick.
We know Mary and Martha, don’t we? Mary is the one this passage describes as the woman who poured perfume on Jesus and “wiped his feet with her hair.” What an act of extravagance that Jesus recognized even while those who witnessed the event rebuked him for the waste of expense.
This is the Mary and Martha who open their home to him, who sit at his feet, who care for him and love him. The same Martha that Jesus rebukes when Mary “has chosen what is best” and Martha in her busy-body state struggled to be still before the master.
And now they are calling upon Jesus because their brother, and the “one Jesus loved” — evidently a close brother and friend in the Lord, is sick. Much more will be developed in this story but at the present I want to reside with the fact that Jesus loved deeply. This is God in the flesh who created the Universe. Who sits enthroned in heaven and needs nothing of us. It’s the God who like other Gods’ — could remain distant, cold, demanding and demeaning. It’s a God who comes near to be like us, to love us, know us and reveal himself to us. It’s the God who is accessible to Mary and Martha, as well to us, that when we call upon him or send word, he answers and comes to our aid.
This should inspire us to bring our sick, hurting and sinful to Jesus. We bring them to him and say, “Jesus, the one you love, the one you created, the one you knit together in his mothers womb is sick.” I have friends and loved ones I want to bring to Jesus. Children of God who are distant from him who need to reconnect with a God who loves them. People who hide in sin and shame, refusing to believe that God can forgive them of their sins. All we have to do is bring them to Jesus as we pray, “Lord, the one you love is sick,” and he will answer and hear our prayers.
“O Lord God, it is Holy Week. A time when you were making your way in preparation for the Passover. Just as you were actively working to redeem us then, so you are working to save us now. You are traveling a lonely road filled with pain, passion and punishment. But you died so we could live. You put to death death, and made us alive in Christ. Come now, Holy Spirit, heal our sick and broken. Restore the lost, comfort the dying, rewaken your church. For you are good and your love endures forever.” Amen